Post navigation

Ingenico telium vs Equinox signature capture terminals review

Aside from specifications, what’s the real user experience of these terminals? Signature capture terminals are rapidly growing with the increase in low cost cloud payment technology to run them. This article compares actual user experience differences. The Equinox L5200 and L5300 and the Ingenico ISC 250 touch and ISC 350 touch review highlights are below.

Ingenico, Verifone, and Equinox (previously Hypercom) are the top three terminal suppliers in the USA, per the US Department of Justice in 2011. (Verifone wanted to buy Hypercom). They’re likely leaders for signature capture terminals. Hypercom is credited with inventing credit card terminals, changing the world forever. The equipment listed here was designed to be future proof; they’re made to support current and future payment types without the need to replace equipment.

The ISC 250 is the little brother to the ISC 350. The L5200 is the little brother to the L5300. Other than the screen size and physical footprint, the units are nearly identical. Merchants have been quite happy with the cheaper (smaller) terminals. NOTE: IMAGES ARE NOT PROPORTIONALLY SIZED TO SHOW DIFFERENCES IN ACTUAL SIZE.

Lies very flat. Merchants may need to purchase an optional fixed base and stand to secure device on an angle for viewing. Consider whether this is desirable for the surface where payments are accepted.

Requires external power supply. It’s not a single cord but a multi-part power system that increases cable monsters and and troubleshooting problems.

Glass really does make display pop and mitigate risk of ink and scratch damage.

No experience to report.

Requires external power supply.

SAME AS L5200

Buy the L5300 if you have the space and you want a bigger screen. Otherwise the L5200 is suitable for almost any merchant. 99% of my customers buy this unit.

SAM = Secure Access Module slots

* Prices include power supply, cables, software loading, debit key injection, and everything physical needed to plug in the machine and run it.

Merchants also need a payment gateway, such as CenPOS, to securely accept payments and run the terminals. The gateway may enable users to login to a secure web page to process payments; others may require integrated POS software.

MANUFACTURE WARRANTY & REPAIR NOTICE: Because these devices are more like computers than older style terminals, it’s recommended merchants purchase either an overnight replacement solution or have additional units on hand as a back up.

The typical manufacturer time to repair units under warranty is 8 weeks.

The typical cost to diagnose a unit problem not under warranty is $150.

Overnight repair service must be purchased at the same time the unit is purchased. Costs range up to $299 per unit.

Data obtained from publicly available information on the respective manufacturer web sites as of March 2014. In some cases, data was not readily available to compare the exact features, however, the terminal may have them. Merchants are encouraged to conduct their own research for comparative information not covered here and for general fact checking.

SPECIAL NOTICE REGARDING EMV

Although all terminals were designed to be future proof, they do not support all features out of the box. To accept EMV chip cards, the gateway must certify the terminal to each processor; the same applies for P2PE encryption. Due to the expense and other reasons, some terminals may never be certified for EMV or P2PE.